2 SAMUEL 2:26 — KING JAMES VERSION 0 0
“Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?”
Abner cried out to Joab — Abner's call for cessation (וַיִּקְרָא אַבְנֵר אֶל־יוֹאָב, vayyiqrā 'abnēr 'el-yôʾāb) seeks to halt the bloodshed. 'Shall the sword devour forever?' (הַלְּעוֹלָם תִּשְׁתַּמַּע־הַחֶרֶב, hal-ləʿôlām tiš·tam·ma ʿ-haḥerev)—Abner appeals to reason. Each side is bloodied; neither can achieve total victory without destroying Israel's manpower. Abner's rhetorical question echoes covenantal wisdom: endless war destroys the people God gave David to rule. Joab must choose: continue the vendetta for Asahel, or accept the practical reality of stalemate.
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